


In Our Darkest Moments

by PiningforPines



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Attempted Pedophilia, Attempted Sexual Assault, Dark, Dubious Morality, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Just pirates man, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Morally Grey, Murder, Pirates, Violence, Wind has seen Some Shit, big brothers Legend and Twi, heed the tags, they can be ruthless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29281389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiningforPines/pseuds/PiningforPines
Summary: Wind has seen the worst of humanity and come out the other side stronger— but at least now he doesn't have to do it alone.An LU fic about the things that make heroes question their heroism.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 86





	1. Predicament

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this ages ago and almost forgot about it, so here it is now, I guess. I swear I don't mean to do it, but my fics keep steadily getting darker. I hope I can eventually post some of the fluffier things I'm working on. (cue Steven Universe's "For Just One Day We'll Only Think about (Love)")
> 
> **Warnings: Implied childood sexual abuse, attempted pedophilia, and unhealthy coping with trauma. Please heed the tags, and stay safe.**

It was really just a simple sentence.

Incredibly lewd, of course. Disgustingly so. Honestly, the wording didn’t matter. Something along the lines of ‘hey you, you’re sexy, I’m going to take you’. Not pretty at all.

Wind had known, deep down, as he stepped onto this merchant vessel, that the man aboard could not be trusted. Immediately. Call it intuition, call it just plain-old pattern recognition, but he didn’t like the way this big, burly expensive-goods dealer eyed them, the way he stood, the words he used.

Legend had greeted him like an old friend, and introduced him as such. They’d met after Legend’s journeys, a coworker of a coworker of a coworker of one of his closest loved ones. The suspicion in Wind’s heart softened and was kicked away. Even if he did not trust this man, even if he didn’t know Legend’s loved one that well, he _did_ trust Legend, and that was enough.

And the goods. _Oh_ , the _goods_.

It had been worth it, sneaking off in the middle of the night, simply to see what was for sale. Silverware encrusted with gems. Swords and bows, gilded and powerful. Infinite knicknacks with unfathomable magical value. In his head, the voice of Tetra screamed with delight, ranting and raving about drinks on the house, that they were rich, that their pirating days were over (they would never be over, regardless of found treasures).

But he was a hero as well as a pirate, and passed on the greed that had been so ingrained in him. Instead, Wind delighted in surveying the items, being careful to restrain the instinct to touch them, as Legend and the man talked business. Twilight, along for the ride, hovered somewhere behind him, glancing around uneasily. Poor, rigid soul had caught them leaving camp, and insisted that if they couldn’t be stopped, then he’d tag along as supervision. Wind heard him grumbling to himself as they perused, muttering that so much wealth amassed in one room was just asking for trouble. 

In retrospect, Twilight was right.

The man noticed Wind’s fondness for navigation equipment. Legend and Twilight became distracted with an extravagant map. There were prettier tools in the backroom. It was all amateur strategy, really. Wind should’ve heeded his instincts, but his curiosity won out, and he agreed to take a look.

Then, while Wind was studying a particularly gorgeous compass at the far end of the room, the man said that _gross_ innuendo, and his blood went cold.

Oh, dear _Hylia_ , _no_. Absolutely _not_.

He felt his grin become fixed in place. He knew what that line meant, and he didn’t like it one bit.

The thing was, despite his age, Wind was no stranger to these situations. Actually, _because_ of his age, he wasn’t a stranger to these situations. Out on the water, in dimly lit taverns, at makeshift lookouts, there were only so many ugly situations he could avoid. He was a _pirate_ , after all, and no matter how noble he and Tetra’s crew tried to be, their competition was _anything_ but. He’d met the scum of the earth in his travels, he’d _waded_ through it, and he’d fought them off himself: the filthiest, cruelest, most remorseless excuses for ‘people’ to exist. Thankfully, they ceded quite easily when they found themselves at the business end of Wind’s sword.

But the problem now was, this was Legend’s _friend_ , on a vessel full of items the Collector clearly and _dearly_ coveted. Wind could take care of himself, sure—but for him, ‘ _Self-Defense’_ and ‘ _Unnecessary Bodily Harm to Others’_ were two sides of the same coin, and the secret third-side of the ring holding them together had _Property Damage_ stamped around it in bold, capital letters.

So he froze, unsure what to do, as the pervert took a step closer to him, calculating his escape and wearing that forced smile, hoping the poor fool thought it meant he was interested, all the while aware that at any point, weapons might have to be drawn.

“ _What_ did you just say to him?”

A voice like a low growl floated over the merchant’s large shoulders, and Wind craned his neck to see around the man. Twilight had one foot into the room, his lips raised in a snarl like a feral beast, his eyes sparking with pure disgust.

Ah, well, it seemed like the decision had already been made for him.

Not long later, the trio of heroes trudged over the sand, the merchant vessel burning brightly behind them, a sack full of goodies over Legend’s shoulder.

It was oddly peaceful, the waves crashing softly, the crackling of the fire left far behind, the clinking of fancy things in Legend’s bag. Almost surreal, really, considering the mayhem they’d just caused.

Wind chewed his lip for a moment, thoughtful. They’d been silent since they’d left the ship, but he really felt like he should speak his mind.

“You guys… really didn’t have to do that,” he admitted, a little guiltily. Overkill, that’s what it had been. He’d never seen either Legend or Twilight that _angry_ in his life.

“Are you kidding me?!” Twilight scoffed immediately, “Don’t argue, I know you’re going to.” Wind clamped his mouth shut. “We did what we _needed_ to do.”

Legend nodded firmly, though his gaze was far away. A dagger fell out of his bag, and Wind reached down and picked it up without breaking stride; the Collector didn’t even notice.

“... I’m kind of glad it happened, honestly.”

Twilight’s neck snapped towards Legend, that fury burning in his eyes again, and Legend raised his free hand in surrender.

“Seriously! I would’ve never realized what an awful person he was if this hadn’t happened, and Wind is fine! I’m glad I didn’t have to see any kids get hurt to realize what kind of man he was.” Legend’s eyes shone in the moonlight with a bloodlust that (Wind decided) didn’t look too out-of-place on his face.

It was a fair point. Still, the ruthlessness his friends had shown perturbed Wind a bit. It wasn’t like he wasn’t capable of the same cruelty; he’d done things that needed to be done, and always in the name of virtue and Hylia. There was a line that he didn’t cross, and he knew his friends had lines, too. They had just shown tonight that their lines were a couple inches further away than he’d thought.

“... We could’ve kept the ship, though,” Wind hummed disappointedly.

Legend erupted into laughter, almost doubling over, his spoils threatening to spill.

Twilight looked sheepish and a bit conscience-stricken, scratching the back of his head; Wind could only imagine how this small act of brutality clashed with the ranchhand’s simple-lived, gentlemanly nature.

“Maybe we went a bit overboard…” Twilight admitted softly, and Wind gave him a cheeky smirk. He turned to the Vet, who was still chortling.

Legend’s laughter was going on a bit too long to be _entirely_ stable, and he seemed to know it, dropping the bag onto the sand, raking his hands across his face. “Oh, _Goddesses_ ,” he gasped finally, still with a misplaced chuckle here and there. _We broke him_ , Wind thought with a twinge of guilt and a _wave_ of amusement. He was no stranger to madness, after all, and understood it well enough to know that his friend would be fine.

“Wind!” Legend huffed, finally shaking off his laughing fit. He grabbed the youngest hero by the shoulders suddenly, looking deep into his eyes, bright-blue almost black in the dark of night. “Listen to me.” 

He was deadly serious now. Wind nodded. 

“If anyone ever says or does anything like that ever again—”

“I can take care of myself,” Wind answered automatically. It was true, after all. He’d managed much worse situations, with leagues more finesse.

Legend shook his head hard. “Obviously you can.”

Oh. A pleasant surprise, there.

“If this ever happens again, you tell me. You tell me, so I can personally burn them alive _myself_.” Legend’s eyes shone with an intensity that was a little hard for Wind to bear.

Ah. Fair enough.

“Technically, he was already—” Twilight started to correct uncomfortably.

Legend thrust a finger out at him. “Not the point!” He grabbed the bag again and lugged it over his shoulder, his mini-crisis addressed. “You understand?” he asked Wind, who felt slightly worried, but also quite touched.

“... Yeah, I do,” he promised, with a small, crooked smile.

“Good!” Legend marched forward, and Twilight followed close behind, watching Wind over his shoulder to make sure the youngest didn’t lag. He grinned, strapping the stolen dagger to his belt.

It was a weird thought, but Wind felt warmed by this unfortunate event. Sure, they might be heroes, but they were still _people_ , after all. Strange, flawed, maybe-just-casually-insane people—pretty much like _all_ people were. Tonight, they’d witnessed the darkest parts of themselves, despite the Light of Courage they all held, and faced it, _used_ it for something that was… well, _arguably_ , righteous. And, as a pirate, who could ask for more from him?

Wind broke into a cheery whistle, making Legend break into giggles once more, and decided he’d enjoy the nighttime stroll back to camp.


	2. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly forgot I wrote this. The tone is _strikingly_ different, but I hope ya'll enjoy it all the same.

It was late into the next morning when they were caught.

No one had noticed them sneak back to camp (Sky had fallen asleep on guard duty again) and they’d all crept into their bedrolls, Legend stuffing the treasure into Hyrule’s magic bag. They’d gone back to sleep; the sun had risen; the rest of their crew woke up. The three who had gone on the midnight escapade made no sign to each other that this night had been anything but business as usual. For a little while there, Wind thought he might’ve dreamt it all, and what a fucked-up dream _that_ would’ve been.

But, alas.

They trudged into the small harbor town they’d been desperate to reach, thanking the gods for inns and real beds. They were low on _everything_ again (they really needed to be more conservative with their potions), and stepped into the meager fishing village with a shopping list.

“Well, we should be able to stock up fairly easily,” Time reasoned, eyeing the town bulletin board curiously as he passed, “If we—”

Time spasmed as if he’d been hit with a shock arrow, then quickly stepped back, looking with horror at a flyer on the board. They all froze and followed his gaze, concerned that anything (much less a piece of paper) could evoke such a reaction from their leader.

“... Legend, Twilight. What is this?”

There, freshly pasted atop older pamphlets, were renditions of Legend and Twilight, crudely drawn but impressively accurate. _Wanted_ , the caption above them read, and then, underneath: _for robbery, arson, and murder_.

Wind let out a snort of laughter before he could stop himself. Oh, Goddesses, he shouldn’t be laughing, this was downright awful. What was wrong with him?

(Mysteriously, he wasn’t included. Was it because he was a child? Had whoever spotted them decided that he’d been dragged along, with no advocacy of his own?)

Apparently choosing to ignore Wind’s twisted sense of humor, the others crowded around the sign. Within the group, Wind saw Twilight hunch down, looking positively aghast—Legend did the same, pulling his hat farther down on his head, like that would help hide his identity.

“‘Arson’?” Wild mused aloud, looking much calmer than Wind would’ve liked, his head cocked to the side.

“ _Murder?!_ ” Hyrule cried out, his mouth gaping in shock, and turned to Legend, his hands clawing up like he didn’t know what to grab—Legend’s face, to better hide him, or his _neck_ , to strangle him.

“ _Shhh_!” The Collector in question shoved Hyrule’s hands down, casting glances at the mostly empty square. “Not so loud!” Farore above, he was _so_ conspicuous.

“You two have some explaining to do,” Four huffed, his tone still playful—but over his shoulder, Time _loomed_ like an omen of death, staring down his protege and the Veteran with barely-contained fury. Legend continued to shrink under his gaze; Twilight was no doubt aware of the anger aimed at him, but his wide eyes were still glued to the flyer, paling further with each passing second. Wind did not envy whatever identity-crisis was going on in that goody-two-shoes, tattooed head of his.

“There was good reason—” Legend began shrilly.

“This must be a mistake—” Twilight lied— _badly_ lied, like, _really_ badly lied—at the exact same time.

They both stopped at the sound of the other’s conflicting story. Time seemed to _double_ in size, taking a deep breath like he was going to start shouting at the boys right then and there. Wind cowered, despite being outside of the line of fire, and he wasn't the only one of their group to do so.

There were a few tense moments, and then Time let the breath out, sharply and angrily. He reached out (Legend flinched) and ripped the flyer off the board, crumpling it in his hand.

“Four. Wild. You’re in charge of stocking up supplies. The rest of you, go with them. _You two_.” Time’s one-eyed glare seared over Legend and Twilight. “You come with me, before anyone recognizes you. Hylia _above_ …”

Four gave a terse nod, Wild hurrying to the smithy’s side; Time grabbed his protege by the scruff of his hood, making the usually-unfazed ranchhand squeak, grumbling all the while. The two guilty heroes kept their heads down as Time forced them both towards the entrance to town.

Wind’s heart panged in his chest. Oh, Goddesses, this was _his_ fault, and his friends were paying for it, because they chose to help him. The guilt crawled its way up his sides in rivulets, grabbing ahold of his shoulders, clawing icily at his throat.

“Wait!”

They all stopped and stared at him, but it was Time’s furious, disappointed glare that held Wind’s gaze. He froze as if turned to stone, unable to move under that expression’s might.

“Sailor, _do what you’re told_ ,” Time thundered lowly, like an approaching storm. Wind shook with fear and shame, but his mind screeched to _speak, speak now, before it’s too late_.

Out of sight of Time’s gaze, he saw Legend give him the subtlelest shake of his head.

(Twilight was still unresponsive.)

“C’mon, hun,” Sky murmured, coming close to him, a firm but gentle hand on Wind’s shoulder. He pulled lightly, trying to lead the younger hero away.

 _No, no, no_. Wind wrenched his eyes away from Time, and his arm away from Sky.

“It’s my fault!” he snapped at the dusty cobblestone ground.

More silence from his companions. They’d truly been rendered speechless by this whole ordeal, huh? His cheeks burned with shame, and he continued to glare resolutely at an oddly-shaped rock in the pavement.

“... Right, then,” came Time’s voice, clipped and frustrated. “The rest of you, go. Wind, follow.”

Wind nodded at the stones again, and, this time, he did what he was told.

“Explain to me _exactly_ what happened.”

A mile or two from the village, Time paced back and forth in a rocky clearing. The two incriminated boys sat like guilty children on the ground, waiting for their sentence.

Wind stood off to the side, ultimately ignored by the prowling lion that was their leader. He decided it was arbitrary that the question wasn’t aimed at him.

“It’s my fault—” he began again, and Legend swiftly cut him off.

“It is _not_ his fault, he should’ve gone with the others!” Legend snapped, pointing at Wind but looking Time dead in the eye. It gave Wind shivers to even _imagine_ defying the Hero of Time like that.

Time paused in his pacing. He met Legend’s gaze, then looked Twilight up and down (the ranchhand’s face was hidden in his hands), and finally rounded on Wind.

“Your face wasn’t on the posters,” Time reprimanded Wind simply. Wind resisted the urge to stomp his foot childishly—Legend and Twilight were going to spin this tale so that he'd become some kind of _damsel_ , dammit! The whole situation wouldn’t have happened if he just hadn’t been there!

Wind opened his mouth, ready to retort, but it was at that moment that Twilight uttered the first thing he’d spoken since they’d left the town.

“The man threatened to assault Wind,” he admitted quietly, hollowly. His hands lowered from his face, but Twilight kept staring at them. “We… It… Things got… out of hand…”

“You _KILLED HIM!_ ”

They all winced: they weren’t prepared for Time’s onslaught, sudden as thunder. “You killed a man for _what?!_ For attacking one of us?! As if that didn’t happen to us on a daily basis! And what, you slaughtered him like a common bokoblin, with no thought to the fact that he was _human_ , and decided to steal all his things for yourself?! Is _that_ what happened?!”

They all shrank under the weight of his words. Wind saw Twilight mouth the word ‘ _but,_ ’ yet no sound came from between his lips.

“No thought to what was right! Just senseless violence! Have you really started to consider yourselves judge, jury, and executioner?! I thought you were better than that! I—”

Time took a deep, wavering breath, and finished more bitterly, “I thought I _taught_ you better than that.”

Wind sank slowly to the dirt, his eyes leaking tears. Time’s words weren’t meant for him, but they might as well have been: _he_ was the one who had gotten them into this mess. He caused it, and he could’ve stopped it. Dear Hylia, why hadn’t he stopped it?!

Twilight’s eyes were hidden behind his hands again, and he was shaking hard; Wind had never seen the strong, serious hero like this, broken and ashamed. But Legend… Legend was staring at the ground with a defiant look, close to tears himself, but without a hint of shame.

“You misunderstood Twilight,” Legend snapped, his voice shaky but loud.

Time looked affronted that Legend dared to even speak. He opened his mouth, and Wind cringed at the oncoming shouting, but Legend (Farore, Din, _and_ Nayru help him) kept talking:

“He wanted to _assault_ the kid. There’s more than one meaning to ‘assault,’ old man. You’re choosing the forgivable one.”

Despite Legend’s attitude, his words fell heavily on their ears. Wind saw Time’s back straighten at this new knowledge. He saw the way Time’s breath hitched when the revelation clicked.

There was a horrible, unbearable minute of silence as Time reevaluated the situation. Wind grit his teeth and rubbed furiously at his eyes, but they only streamed harder. _Why_ , dammit, _why_ was this everyone’s reaction? Yes, he knew such shock and disgust was warranted, but that didn’t mean everyone needed to act like it ended the world! It was a common enough cruelty, he knew how to deal with it—and there was no need for such over-the-top reactions!

All of this could’ve been avoided if he’d just stayed at camp like he was supposed to!

Time spoke to Twilight first, much gentler than he had before. “... Is this true?” 

Twilight gave a singular, stiff nod.

Wind saw Time’s legs turn towards him, stepping closer, going down on one knee.

“My young Sailor,” Time murmured carefully, with a tenderness that Wind _hated_ , hated with an ugly, bubbling passion—and, using the petname that Time alone refused to give up, the one that the youngest hero felt described him better than ‘Wind’ ever had— “Are you alright?”

“I’m _fine!_ ” Wind warbled through his tears, and felt a flash of anger at himself, knowing that the tears and the words he chose were not helping his case. “I’m fine, nothing happened to me, and this—this is _stupid_! It’s stupid and horrible and it’s not their faults! It’s _mine_! It’s mine, damn it, I _knew_ the moment I stepped onto that ship, he had _all_ the red flags, and I let everything p-play out a-anyway!”

No, no, no, he was _sobbing_ , he needed to _stop_ , this was making him look like the _victim_. The guy hadn’t even laid a finger on him, it was just a single inappropriate comment, and now his friends were _wanted criminals_.

“This isn’t your fault, Sailor,” Time hummed to him. He raised one gloved hand up, as if he wanted to put it on Wind’s shoulder, and hesitated, as if afraid of triggering something by touching the boy—

And Wind _snapped_.

He lashed out, striking Time’s hand away, and felt an amalgamous mix of pleasure and guilt at the hurt look on their leader’s face. Before he knew it, he was on his feet.

“ _Stop acting like I’m a helpless kid!_ ” he shrieked at the man, and he felt years and years of pent up pain welling to the surface, slipping into his voice. “You all act like- like this is the worst thing to ever happen! Like this should’ve _broken_ me! This is _fucking_ NORMAL!”

He screamed the last word at the top of his lungs, his eyes scrunched closed against his tears. As his voice echoed amongst the trees, birds gave out startled calls and took flight.

For a minute, all Wind could focus on was his breathing, the pain of his nails digging into his palms. There was a numbness in his soul, like he’d shouted all of his emotions out, and been left a hollow shell.

“... _Wind_ ,” and that was Twilight’s voice, pleading with him. “That _isn’t normal_.”

Wind forced his eyes open, and let out a weak, bitter laugh. The three of them, regardless of any other worries that had been on their minds, looked deeply concerned, even _scared_. Were they really that scared of something they themselves couldn’t experience? Of a little bit of authoritative abuse towards helpless children?

“You’re a fucking _farmer_ ,” Wind retorted, a harshness on his tongue that felt foreign even to him, “and you’re a blacksmith, and you’re—what, a knight?” Each in turn looked confused and struck by Wind’s blunt words. “I’m a fucking _pirate_. This is _normal_ for me. I see the worst fucking shit pieces of humanity and _I live_ _through it._ I don’t know _why_ —” His voice broke, and he had to take a few more deep breaths, looking up at the beautiful, cerulean sky. “I don’t know why you’re all so _stunned_ ,” he lamented quietly, and noticed the bone-deep tiredness sinking into him, pulling him down to earth, away from that sky. “I know how to avoid that crap. I _do_ , all the time. People _suck_. It’s not supposed to… It _shouldn’t_ get me down…”

They said nothing, all of them still wearing that same awful expression. To stop seeing it, Wind rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve—still wet from before—and tried to get the last of his tears off his face. “We’re _heroes_ , for Farore’s sake. We’re supposed to be the _goodest_ good guys. We can’t let people like that _mark_ us. Change how we feel about humanity. Make us do things- things we _regret_.” His voice, as quiet as it had become, rang out in their little clearing.

Twilight was the one who stood first, and promptly latched himself onto Wind, holding him close.

“Twi—” Wind grumbled, too wrung-out to resist further.

“Dear _Hylia_ , Wind,” Twilight whispered to him, and Wind was relieved to hear less _worry_ in his voice, and more _exasperation_. “No one should have to go through that, you _know_ that!”

“Of course not,” he mumbled against the cloth on Twilight’s chest, “That’s what we’re fighting for—” 

And then Legend and Time joined the embrace, holding him so tightly that it felt like if he were to go limp, their arms would still hold him upright.

“Kid, you’re the bravest of all of us,” Legend murmured, his voice unusually strained with emotion.

“Oh, _c’mon—_ ”

“He’s right, little Sailor,” Time agreed sternly, “And don’t you forget it. You’ve been through hell and back, so don’t expect us to sit back and let that hell be your ‘normal.’”

And, that was it. That was all he wanted to hear. He was a _kid_ , yeah, the youngest of the group. But that didn’t make him weaker, and that didn’t make his life kinder. Far from it, actually. And hearing it come from his friends, these _older_ heroes, the fact that they were _acknowledging_ his trials and heroism… That was all it took for his heart to stop shuddering in his chest and finally, _finally_ calm down.

He relaxed in that cuddle pile with a deep sigh, and the others took that as a triumph, chuckling a bit and loosening their hold just enough for the most comfort.

“I think,” Time hummed after a while, somewhere to Wind’s left, “for this once, I’ll let you and the Gods decide whether or not you made the right choice.” Ah, that was meant for Twilight and Legend—and indeed, the other two fidgeted guiltily, but stopped when Time added, much quieter, “Besides, I’m not sure I wouldn't have done the same.”

And Wind giggled, glad that at least these friends of his shared this dark streak within them, because fighting it off together was easier than fighting it alone.

  
  


That night, Twilight and Legend were forced to set up a camp while the rest of the group found an inn.

Wind decided that he could rough it with his two friends one more night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twi and Legend: ... So anyway, I started stabbing.  
> Time: Understandable, have a nice day.
> 
> \---
> 
> For the record, I don't condone solving violence with violence, but hey, what do I know of how well Hyrule's law system works?

**Author's Note:**

> Pedophile: *exists*  
> Legend and Twilight: OH HELL NO—  
> \---
> 
> I realized I really like writing Wind—I accidentally gave him this really sarcastic outlook on everything, and I think it's a nice juxtaposition with his sweet personality. Idk, I think it would say a lot about him to go through all these bitter ideas, but then settle on saying/doing the kindest thing. Or maybe it's just bad characterization. Thoughts?


End file.
